In Bethlehem, message love, brotherhood

BETHLEHEM, West Bank - Thousands of Christian pilgrims from around the world packed the West Bank town of Bethlehem for Christmas Eve celebrations Tuesday, lending warm holiday cheer to the biblical birthplace of Jesus on a cool, clear night.

The turnout, the highest in years, helped lift spirits in Bethlehem as leaders expressed hope that the coming year will finally produce an independent state for Palestinians.

“The message of Christmas is a message of peace, love and brotherhood. We have to be brothers with each other,” said Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal, the top Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land, as he arrived in town.

Excited tourists milled about the town’s Manger Square, stopping in restaurants and souvenir shops, and admiring a large, illuminated Christmas tree. Marching bands and Scout troops performed for the visitors in the streets and on a stage next to the tree.

Will Green, his wife, Debbie, and their 2-year-old daughter, Daphne, all of New York City, were among the crowds of people who greeted Twal’s motorcade as he entered town from nearby Jerusalem.

Green said that being in Bethlehem for Christmas was a dream come true. “All the stories that we grew up with. It’s here. It’s part of our life. We heard them in the family, school and church. This is the birthplace,” he said.

Green slowly pushed a stroller and his wife held their daughter as they followed a crowd toward the Church of the Nativity, built on the site where Christians believe Jesus was born.

Palestinian dignitaries greeted Twal at the entrance of Bethlehem. His motorcade crawled through the town’s narrow streets as he stopped to shake hands and greet the throngs of visitors. It took him nearly 90 minutes to make the short trip to celebrate midnight Mass at the Church of the Nativity compound.

Hundreds of people packed the compound for the service. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh were among the dignitaries.

In his homily, Twal told Abbas that he prays for a “just and equitable solution” for the Palestinians. Twal, a Palestinian, also expressed sympathy for the plight of the Palestinians, particularly families that have relatives imprisoned by Israel or those who have suffered as a result of the conflict with Israel.

“The world is living through a long night of wars, destruction, fear, hate, racism and, at the present time, cold and snow,” he said. Lamenting strife in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, he urged worshippers “not to forget our own problems here: the prisoners and their families who hope for their release, the poor who have lost their land and their homes demolished, families waiting to be reunited, those out of work and all who suffer from the economic crisis.”

Yet Twal called on people not to despair. “We are invited to be optimistic and to renew our faith that this land, home of the three monotheistic religions, will one day become a haven of peace for all people,” he said.

“Oh Holy Child, God of goodness and mercy, look with kindness on the Holy Land and on our people who live in Palestine, in Israel, in Jordan and all the Middle East. Grant them the gift of reconciliation so that they may all be brothers - sons of one God,” he said.

The number of visitors to Bethlehem remained below the record levels of the late 1990s, when Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts were at their height.

After a Palestinian uprising that began in 2000, the numbers plunged. But thanks to a period of relative calm, they have been steadily climbing in recent years - and got an extra push this year after the resumption of peace talks.

“Our message is a message of justice and peace,” said Palestinian Tourism Minister Rula Maayah. “We Palestinians are seeking peace, and we deserve to have peace and our children deserve to live in peace.”

Maayah said the number of visitors to Bethlehem was expected to jump by about 14 percent from last year.

A spokesman said 10,000 foreign visitors had entered town by the early evening, slightly higher than last year. Israel’s Tourism Ministry, which coordinates the visits with the Palestinians, said the number could reach 25,000 during the Christmas season.

Despite the Christmas cheer, Mideast politics loomed in the background. To enter Bethlehem, Twal’s motorcade had to cross through the hulking concrete separation barrier that Israel built during the uprising. Israel says the barrier is needed to keep attackers from entering nearby Jerusalem, but Palestinians say the structure has stifled the town and stolen their land.

Maayah said the barrier, along with nearby Israeli settlements and Israeli control of archaeological sites in the West Bank, have made it difficult to develop the tourism sector.

In addition, few Palestinians seem to think that the current round of peace talks will bear fruit. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry relaunched the talks last summer, but there have been no signs of progress.

Israel carried out a series of airstrikes and other attacks Tuesday in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for the deadly shooting of an Israeli civilian who had been working along the border. The fighting, which left a 3-year-old Palestinian girl dead, was the heaviest in more than a year.

Tuesday’s attack was the latest in a series of violent events. An Israeli policeman was stabbed Monday outside a West Bank settlement, hours after a rocket fired from Gaza landed in southern Israel.

On Sunday, a pipe bomb that authorities believe was planted by Palestinian militants exploded on a bus in central Israel, moments after the vehicle was evacuated.

Christmas also serves as a reminder of the dwindling numbers of Christians who live in the Holy Land. Over the decades, tens of thousands of Christians have left, fleeing violence or seeking better opportunities overseas. Christians now make up a tiny percentage of the population.

Bethlehem is now only one-third Christian. Most residents are Muslim. In an annual gesture, Israel permitted some 500 members of Gaza’s small Christian community to leave the Hamas-ruled territory and cross through Israel to attend the celebrations in Bethlehem.

But for one night at least, residents and visitors brushed aside their troubles to celebrate the holiday.

Nick Parker, a student from Georgia Tech University, said he was enjoying the food and making friends with local residents and fellow travelers.

“It’s special to be here where Jesus was born,” he said. “It’s a special opportunity, once in a lifetime.”

CHRISTMAS EVE MASS

Pope Francis lauded Jesus’ humble beginning as a poor and vulnerable baby as Francis celebrated his first Christmas Eve Mass as pontiff Tuesday in St. Peter’s Basilica.

“You are immense, and you made yourself small; you are rich, and you made yourself poor; you are all-powerful and you made yourself vulnerable,” Francis said of Jesus as he delivered his homily in the basilica, packed with faithful.

Francis has dedicated much of his 9-month-old papacy to drawing attention to the plight of the poor, of children and other vulnerable members of society.

He noted that the first to receive news of Jesus’ birth were shepherds, who in society were considered “among the last, the outcast.”

The bells of St. Peter’s rang as Francis, who turned 77 a week ago, walked briskly up the main aisle of the basilica for the ceremony, which began Tuesday 2 ½ hours before midnight. Keeping with the theme of humility that he has set for his new papacy, Francis - instead of an aide - carried the statue and kissed a knee of the figure of the newly born Jesus.

The occasional wail of babies in the basilica contrasted at times with the sweet voices of the choir.

The Argentine-born pope has also encouraged his flock to be a joyful church, and he called Jesus “the light who brightens the darkness.”

In the world’s history and our own personal history, Francis said, “there are both bright and dark moments, lights and shadows. ” He added “if our heart is closed, if we are dominated by pride, deceit, self-seeking, then darkness falls within us and around us.”

The basilica ceremony was the pope’s only public Mass for Christmas. Today, Christmas Day, Francis will deliver his Christmas message, meant for the world, from the basilica’s central balcony overlooking St. Peter’s Square.

VISITING THE TROOPS

The commander of NATO forces in eastern Afghanistan spent Christmas Eve visiting U.S. troops Tuesday at bases across the mountainous region to give them holiday greetings and gifts for a few lucky soldiers.

Maj. Gen. James C. McConville, who commands troops in the volatile east near the Pakistani border, told troops that they were “bringing a gift to the Afghan people - you’ve given them an opportunity. Now it’s up to them to take it.”

McConville thanked the troops and told them that thanks to them “a lot of Americans will wake up tomorrow and have a peaceful day, and that’s thanks to you.”

The general also delivered presents in the form of special Army coins to troops who’d completed three or more deployments.

Information for this article was contributed by Mohammed Daraghmeh, Ibrahim Barzak, Frances D’Emilio and Greg Keller of The Associated Press.